Q&A.

It's Tough To Track Performance Of Non-listed Funds On Daily Basis

How can I track the performance of mutual funds that are not listed by the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation system?

To qualify for a listing with Nasdaq, which provides fund data for most newspapers and magazines, a fund generally must have either $25 million in assets or 1,000 or more shareholders.

About 3,100 funds are Nasdaq-listed, and 217 are not, according to Morningstar Inc., fund researchers in Chicago.

Tracking the performance of non-listed funds on a daily basis is almost impossible, said John Rekenthaler, editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds, an investing newsletter. Some financial publications, however, publish weekly quotations, and more do so on a quarterly basis.

While non-listed funds tend to be small and relatively new, that's not always the case, said Gerald W. Perritt, editor of the Mutual Fund Letter in Chicago.

He recommends two no-load growth funds that are small but do have solid histories: Crabbe Huson Special (until recently Crabbe Huson Growth) in Portland, Ore., a value fund, and the Fasciano Fund in Chicago, which owns shares in small companies.